How to start surfing?

In the new section “Challenge” we are talking about activities that are worth taking up on a trip, if pub-crawl and shopping trips are already boring. How and where to run your first marathon in Europe, you already know. Today we are talking about, perhaps, the most romantic form of active recreation – surfing.

Salt in the hair, a beautiful tan, the spirit of freedom and the smell of melted wax – for sure, at least once you dreamed about showing off on the board. How to approach this dream? Where better to go and how much money do you need to plan for such a trip? Is there any chance to get on the board if you are not a big swing? Made a detailed FAQ for a beginner surfer.

I would like to surf, but I do not know where to start.

As in any endeavor, it’s up to you to buy a ticket to the ocean and give the cat to your relatives for a week or two.

Okay, but where better to go to a beginner surfer?

One of the delights of surfing is that the surf spot map is still not filled. You can choose any point where the ocean borders on the land, and with a high probability there will be surfing, and, therefore, you can find a place to liking: with warm water and monkeys or fjords and salmon that have returned from spawning. Some even manage to surf on Kamchatka, but this, of course, is not for beginners.

If we approach the choice of place logically, then pay attention to 2 points: a) the opportunity to get cheap; b) the constancy of waves suitable for rolling during the year. From this perspective, Portugal looks great with 360 days a year, suitable for skiing, the lack of tourists, low by European standards, prices, excellent indigenous people and nice cuisine. For example, you can start from the surfer village of Baleal.

Is there anything worthwhile not in Europe?

Of course, there are lots of options. For example, you can drive to Sri Lanka. True, it’s 6 hours from the airport to the coast, but the places are empty and beautiful – neither local, nor tourists, nor queues for the wave. But you need to come at least together, one will be bored. The best places are Miris and Coconut.

Popular among Russian-speaking surfers island of Bali, where excellent conditions for learning to stand on the board. For example, in the area of ​​Seminyak and Kuta – 3 km of smooth sandy beach with beach breaks. Of the minuses – a crowd of students of the Balinese surf schools, which can interfere with your progress. The only way out is to come at dawn or dusk.

Perhaps, the most civilized place in this list is colorful Morocco, which also can offer steep conditions for beginners: high-quality waves, a large number of spots, a surfing center in Agadir. Alternatively, you can rent a car and drive along the coast from north to south to choose a place to your liking. The standard wheelbarrow per day will cost € 35-40, you can pay by card. And in general in Morocco you can not carry cash – the benefit of terminals work everywhere. On such a trip it is convenient to take with you a PayOkay card, the owners of which are always calculated in the currency at the best rate, and receive a 1.5% return on the card for each purchase.

Does surfing have a concept of the season?

In great surfing there is the notion of chasing after ocean storms that leave behind them on the coast a train of epic svellas, after which the conquerors of water skyscrapers hunt. For fans of the season does not end all year round. A special charm lies in the fact that the optimal time for surfing almost anywhere on the planet comes just between the seasons of beach “seals” and baklava honey with nuts.

How much time do you need to spend to learn more or less decently to stand on the board?

As they say, “surfing is 1% getting up on the board and 99% of everything else.” Surfing is not a sport, and in no case should you set yourself goals and goals, such as getting on a board, turning along a wave or driving through a pipe. The only goal should be to have fun, because you just want to swim in the water, but it’s stylish. Having set yourself this task, you will understand that on the very first day of skiing you can be a better surfer than the guy who is already 14th time in a row trying to make a full turn in a jump and vexedly knocks his fist on the water.

All the same somehow stremno. Which sites are better to read or watch videos to finally be inspired?

For inspiration, there are always a lot of videos with surf-nyasha in bikini and incredible beauty films like The Old, The Young & The Sea or View From A Blue Moon. Another cool and very deep movie is “Brice the Magnificent”.

By the way, if my physical form is not very, maybe better not to start at all? Surfing requires stamina and physical fitness?